Folding ladder.



PATENTED AUG. 18, 1908 B. NBA

F NG'LA PATENT OFFICE.

BERNARD B. NEAL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOLDING LADDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 18, 1908.

Application filed January 8, 1907. Serial No. 351,380.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNARD B. NEAL, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Folding Ladders, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is two fold. First :to provide a metallic folding ladder capable of beingsecurely attached to the floor or wall of a building near a window for use as a fire escape, and adapted when suspended from the Window to the ground, to hang free and away from the outside wall of the building against which it swings so that persons within the building, when using the ladder as a i'lreescape, will be afforded a firm and safe foothold while descending upon it to the ground. Second. :to provide a metallic folding ladder which may be used as a scaffold by mechanics while working upon the wall of a building, or side of a ship, or other structure, and which will furnish a secure footing to the workman ascending or descending it and a suitable structure upon which he may stand safely and from which he may hang his materials or tools while at work.

The flexible fire-escape ladders now in use when suspended from the Window, hang flat and close against the wall of the building. Consequently no space is provided between the ladder and the wall to receive the foot of the person descending except at the tip end of the toe, and he thereby obtains either a very insecure and precarious foothold upon the narrow rung or no foothold at all.

Inasmuch as the most cautious person becomes careless under the excitement caused by a fire, it is obvious that a ladder, if intended as a fire-escape, should afford a foothold which will be both ample and easy to secure. I accomplish this object by providing wall braces at convenient intervals, which hold the ladder out and away from the wall of the building, thereby enabling the toe of the-foot to pass upon and over the metal rung until the middle of the foot rests firmly upon it.

Referring to the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a front view of my invention showing the folding ladder suspended from a building, and held away therefrom by my wall braces with a supporting platform and a ladder bracket of the forms 1n general use which I have attached thereto in order to illustrate the ready adaptability of my invention to them when it is employed as a scaffold. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof with a part of the building shown in section; Fig. 3 is a detail view of one of said wall braces.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The ladder to which myv invention relates is preferably composed of a series of approximately U shaped links, 1, each formed of wire or light rods with a closed end, and two opposite sides. The sides of each link preferably extend upward and their extremities are loosely coiled around the closed end of the link immediately above it so thatthe links will freely turn on their closed ends and fold together. The closed ends or transverse portions of the links form the rungs of the ladder, and each two adjacent rungs are centrally connected by a middle rod 3 extending perpendicularly between them. If desired, the metal tubes 2 may be placed upon the transverse portions of the links to form larger rungs.

In order to holdthe ladder away from the wall against which it is disposed to swing, a series of wall braces 7 bent in the form of elbows and arranged in pairs, is provided and these wallbraces are rigidly attached to the links 1 at regular intervals. The bends or crooks of the elbows rest against the wall and their ends are tightly coiled around the extremities of the closed ends or rungs of two adjacent links. In order to give the elbows rigidity a stiff supporting brace 8 is provided and connects the bend of each elbow at 9 to the middle rod 3 which joins the two adjacent rungs. The members of each pair of elbows are arranged to incline slightly toward each other so that when the ladder is folded the wall braces will lie between its links and will not add to the bulk or space of the ladder when folded.

If the ladder is to be used as afire-escape, it may be fastened to the interior of the building or to the wall against which it is to hang by means of a base plate 5, to which the end link of the ladder is firmly attached by a metal clip 4 or by closed eyes. The base plate 5 may be secured also to the floor below the window by the screws 6 and when not in use the latter may be folded upon the base plate and covered by a convenient window seat adapted to set freely down over both ladder and base plate.

I am aware that folding metallic ladders composed of a series of U shaped wire links pivotallyj oined together are in general use, and I do not intend to cover them with my patent.

What I do claim as new and desire to cover by Letters Patent of the United States are 1. In a folding ladder composed of a plurality of U shaped wire links the transverse portions forming rungs with middle longitudinal rods connecting adjacent rungs, a series of wall braces composed of wire or rods, bent in the form of elbows, and arranged in pairs, the ends of each member of each pair being coiled around the corresponding extremities of the adjacent rungs, and the bends or crooks of each pair of elbows being connected by supporting braces to the adjacent middle rods and arranged to incline slightly toward each other, substantially as described.

2. In a flexible ladder composed of wire U shaped links with middle longitudinal rods the combination. of wall braces or elbows com osed of wire or rods arranged in pairs at regu ar intervals, attached rigidly at their ends to the corresponding extremities of two adjacent rungs of the ladder and supported at the bend of each elbow by a rigid brace from the longitudinal rod which connects said rungs, said elbows when thus braced, being adapted to hold the ladder out and away from the wall against which it may be hanging, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification 1n the presence oi two subscribing witnesses.

BERNARD B. NEAL. Witnesses: I

JOSEPH W. STULL, J. II. LA RUE. 

